Seismic vulnerability study finds poor appreciation of building regulations…..Mihika Basu
Construction norms and techniques in rural areas of Maharashtra and Gujarat, which have witnessed major earthquakes in the past and loss of lives, are considerably safer than what they were prior to the quakes but there is an inadequate appreciation of safer norms in areas that have not seen an earthquake.
These are the initial findings of a project, commissioned by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and being conducted by five Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), on seismic vulnerability assessment of building types in India.
The project, which is being led by IIT Bombay, is an attempt to understand the construction practices in India and if they are safe enough to resist and withstand seismicity or earthquakes.
Both at Bhuj in Gujarat and in Maharashtras Latur and Osmanabad districts, we observed that current constructions are significantly safer than what they used to be before the earthquake. This shows that people who have witnessed such an event and subsequent loss of lives are sensitive to the risks associated with earthquakes. However, people who have not faced an earthquake are lacking in understanding of safer adoption techniques in construction, says Prof Ravi Sinha of IIT Bombay.
The need of the hour is to create awareness of the risks associated with earthquakes and the necessity to implement safer construction norms.
The other institutes involved in the project are IIT Madras, IIT Roorkee, IIT Guwahati and IIT Kharagpur. The assessments started recently, and a group of experts from IIT Bombay visited Satara district recently to evaluate the safety levels of the existing buildings and those under construction and their capacity to withstand earthquakes.
It will help us gain understanding of construction in India and where do they stand in terms of safety. IIT Bombay is conducting the study in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa. We have finished our audits for Bhuj, North and South Goa, Latur and Osmanabad. We are evaluating the degree of resilience of buildings to earthquakes. The findings can be used to replicate the exercise in other parts of the country, Sinha says.
The teams are assessing various types of construction material used, inherent strengths of different types of construction technology, how vulnerable they are to earthquakes and the gaps that must be addressed.
The findings will help in strengthening the construction norms and/or enable drawing up of better norms to make structures resilient to seismicity, Sinha adds.
The assessments are being conducted in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala (by IIT Madras); Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi (by IIT Roorkee); West Bengal, Bihar and Orissa (by IIT Kharagpur) and Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Mizoram (by IIT Guwahati).